


TREASURE PLANET【CHASING STARS】

by Jamie_Hawkins



Category: Treasure Planet (2002)
Genre: Angst, Daddy Issues, Emotions, F/M, Female Character of Color, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Just a lot of emotions, Mixed race oc, Mutual Pining, Oblivious, References to Depression, Romance, Slow Burn, Suicidal Thoughts, True Love, going on a journey across the galaxy to find a legendary treasure hoard, holding hands half the time bc they're totally not in love., plenty of angst, some mother issues (on sophie's part), two best friends
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 10:54:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28705485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jamie_Hawkins/pseuds/Jamie_Hawkins
Summary: Jim has been best friends with Sophie for the past 12 years of his life, and they've been through everything together. She's the only one that he lets get close to him when he's at his lowest. They're the perfect pair... unfortunately, that's obvious to literally everyone but them. But maybe a journey across the galaxy to find the legendary treasure hoard of Captain Nathaniel Flint so that they may rebuild their lives can give them the guidance they need. No matter what happens, these two will be chasing the starts together. Always.
Relationships: Amelia/Delbert Doppler, Jim Hawkins & John Silver, Jim Hawkins & Sarah Hawkins, Jim Hawkins/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 2





	1. 1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> 【I've been meaning to post this on AO3 but never got around to doing it until now. I hope you guys enjoy!】  
> 

_"On the clearest of nights, when the winds of the Etherium were calm and peaceful, the great merchant ships with their cargoes of Arcturian sura crystals felt safe and secure. Little did they suspect that they were pursued by... pirates. And the most feared of all these pirates, was the notorious Captain Nathaniel Flint."_

Sophie clutched tightly onto her blanket while her best friend, Jim held the storybook closer to them as the holographic scene unfolded. The two children laid on Jim's bed in the dark as the narrator told the story, the hologram being the only light in the dark bedroom.

_"Fire!"_ Flint commanded to his crew, and mere seconds later, the cannons fired as they flew around the cargo ship. Both ships rested side by side, each separate crew firing at each other with laser pistols.

Part of Sophie wanted to close her eyes as her little heart raced in her chest from the thrill, but she kept watching, knowing the best part was approaching. It was nearly an hour past their bedtime, but it was a sleepover, so they both decided to stay up as late as possible, as long as they didn't get caught.

_"Like a Candarian Zapwing overtaking its prey--"_ "James Pleiades Hawkins and Sophia Moana Iris." a familiar female voice said sternly as the door opened suddenly and the room was flooded with the hallway light.

Jim quickly closed the book and set it down, the audio gradually slowing down and coming to a stop, before he rested his head in his hands with a sheepish look, while Sophie just looked down shamefully.

"I thought you two were asleep an hour ago." Sarah, Jim's mother said as she stood in the doorway in her nightgown, before walking towards the two children. "Mom, we were just getting to the best part," Jim said, crawling to his pillow before reaching over and grabbing the storybook. Sarah looked at the black haired girl next to her son, "Sophie, your mom expected you to be asleep by your bedtime." she said, folding her arms. "She doesn't have to know, right?" Sophie said with a timid smile, looking up at her hopefully while fiddling with her fingers, wanting to finish the story. "Please?" Jim pleaded, hugging the red leather storybook close to his chest and giving his mom puppy eyes, and Sophie did the same. "Oh, can those eyes get any bigger?" Sarah questioned, smiling down at the two. "Scooch over." she ushered.

Excitedly, Jim and Sophie both did as they were told, and Sarah took a seat next to her son on the bed. Sophie quickly crawled up so she'd be sitting next to Jim. Jim re-opened the book, and the holographic story began to continue, and the narrator's voice came back, _"Like a Candarian Zapwing overtaking it's prey, Flint and his band of renegades swooped in out of nowhere."_

The pirates began to invade the cargo ship, taking out the alien soldiers. Using his cutlass, Captain Flint broke the lock on a treasure chest, allowing all it's wealth and riches, such as gold coins and gems, to be poured out onto the floor. The pirate Captain scooped it up into his clutches, laughing in a sinister manner.

Frightened by the graphic scene, Sophie closed her eyes for a second, before feeling Sarah hold her closely in a comforting fashion, putting her nerves to rest.

"And then, gathering up their spoils... vanished without a trace." the narrator said, as the book showed the pirate ship flying away and disappearing in a flash of green light, leaving behind the now burning cargo ship.

"Ooh!" all three said in unison. Jim flipped the page and leaned in closer to Sophie as the story continued. "Flint's secret trove was never found, but stories have persisted that it remains hidden somewhere at the farthest reaches of the galaxy, stowed with riches beyond imagination. The loot of a thousand worlds..." 

_"Treasure Planet."_ Jim and Sophie spoke in unison as the narrator, and the story came to an end.

"Okay," Sarah said as she closed the book. "Blow your nose." she told Jim, holding a handkerchief up for him, and he did as she said. He sniffled and rubbed his nose with his sleeve, while Sophie yawned and rubbed her eyes, growing sleepy. Sarah tucked the handkerchief in her dress pocket, and placed the storybook on the nightstand. "How do you think Captain Flint did it, mom?" Jim asked, climbing up onto the headboard of his bed.

"How'd he swoop in out of nowhere," he quoted the storybook as he jumped from the headboard and Sarah reached out to catch him, and Sophie covered her eyes, not wanting to see him get hurt. "And vanished without a trace?" he finished after falling just out of Sarah's grasp, but onto the bed, to Sophie's relief, before he crawled underneath his blanket.

"I have no idea." Sarah answered nonchalantly, before spontaneously grabbing Jim and attacking him with tickles, "Come here, you, you li-" causing him to break out into a giggle fit.

Sophie almost got away, if Sarah hadn't caught her before she could jump off the bed, making her squeal as she got tickled. "I'm gonna get-!" Sarah warned, before blowing raspberries on Jim and Sophie's exposed bellies, making them squeal with laughter. "Okay, now it's time for these little spacers to go to sleep." Sarah said, releasing her son and friend's daughter and resting them on the bed, draping the blanket over them, and lightly tapping their noses. "Do you think somebody will ever find Treasure Planet?" Jim asked his mom, as she reached behind his pillow after hearing a squeak sound.

"Whoever does would be so rich." Sophie added, shifting slightly in her place while Sarah pulled one of Jim's alien toys out from behind his pillow. "Sweethearts, I think it's more... like a legend." Sarah said, before placing the toy on the nightstand. "We know it's real." Jim stated, speaking for both him and his friend. "You two win. It's real." Sarah said softly, before kissing both Jim and Sophie softly on their foreheads, before getting up to leave.

"Nighty-night mom." "Nighty-night Mrs. Hawkins." Jim and Sophie bid Sarah goodnight, snuggling into the blanket together.

"Nighty-night sweethearts." Sarah said as she was just about to close the door and go back to her room. "I love you." she said to both of them. "Love you too." they both replied in a sleepy whisper, before Sarah shut the door, allowing the room to go dark again. Moments after she left, Sophie felt Jim get up, grab the storybook from the nightstand, and crawl underneath the blankets, before he opened the book back up. She crawled under the blanket and laid down next to him in their little tent.

_"There are nights when the winds of the Etherium, so inviting with their promise of flight and freedom, made one's spirit soar."_

The children watched the holo-story, watching as spacers flew through the galaxy on ships. Although she covered her eyes again when a band of pirates entered the scene. "I don't like pirates. They're scary, and mean." she whispered, peeking to make sure it was safe to uncover her eyes again.

"But they're so cool!" Jim whispered, glancing over at his friend, who still had her hands over her eyes. "But they steal, and kill. That's not cool." Sophie proclaimed, peeking to check if it was safe to open her eyes again. "Okay, but other than that, you gotta admit, they're at least kinda cool." Jim reasoned, and Sophie slowly uncovered her eyes when she heard the scene settle down. "I guess..." she said with a small smile.

But as her thoughts trailed off, her smile slowly turned into a kind of sad frown. Jim noticed this and asked, "Is something wrong?" worried for his best friend. "I'm okay, it's just..." Sophie hesitated. Jim closed the book, climbed out of the covers with Sophie following him, and set the book back on the nightstand. "What? What is it?" he asked with concern as she lied down next to him. "Jamie... we'll always be friends, right?" she asked, and Jim's eyes widened a bit at her question.

"Of course. What makes you think we wouldn't?" he replied in a hushed voice, lying on his side and facing her.

Sophie turned over onto her stomach and said, "Nothing, I just... if we grow up to travel the galaxy, I wanna do it together. I don't wanna do it without you." At this point, she was getting a little teared up at the mere idea of going on the adventure of a lifetime without her best friend. "And if we do fight pirates, I'm gonna need you there to protect me. I still don't like them."

Jim smiled reassuringly, "Of course. I promise I'll protect you. What kind of best friend would I be if I left you alone to get looted by pirates?"

A warm smile returned to Sophie's freckled face, "Then I promise I'll do my best to protect you too. We'll always be together, through anything and everything. Promise." she said as she held out her pinky. Jim hooked his pinky finger around hers sealing the oath, "Promise." he then yawned, and rested his head against the pillow.

"G'night Sophie." Said girl smiled warmly back at him, mirroring his actions and replying sleepily, "G'night Jim." before they both drifted off to sleep, with their hands still connected.


	2. 2. 12 Years Later

The crisp wind sped past Sophie, whipping her hair around wildly as she held onto tightly to the solar surfer Jim had helped her build a few years ago.

She sailed higher into the sky and through the clouds as the board kept her up in the air. As she sailed just above the clouds in the clear, she could've sworn she could hear an angel's choir from Valhalla itself in the cold wind, singing, calling her name.

Up in the cold, thin air, she felt like she could breathe so easily. The weight of the world was lifted off her shoulders, her feet were as light as the air around her, and nothing else mattered. Like nothing was tying her down, and nothing was keeping her from falling. The only other thing that made her feel that way was--

"Ahh!" Sophie squealed when Jim suddenly sped past her, startling her and snapping her out of her trance, nearly making her fall off the solar surfer.

"Found you!" Jim laughed joyfully, while Sophie caught her breath, but she couldn't help but laugh a little too.

"You've gotta stop doing that, I'm gonna fall to my death one of these days, I swear! I'm starting to think you made mine slower!" Sophie laughed, using one hand to push her hair out of her face while she caught up to Jim.

"You wanna test that out, Iris?" he said teasingly, giving her a playful smirk.

"Oh, is that a challenge, Hawkins?" Sophie laughed, grinning and tightly gripping the rail of her solar surfer. "You're on!" she called out, training her eyes on the atmosphere ahead of her.

"Race you back home!" Jim cheered, smiling at her with that look in his eyes that she just couldn't put into words.

All she knew was that it was a blessing that could light up a room. _'Does he have any clue what he does to me?'_ she wondered to herself as she felt her legs nearly go weak as she sped through the air.

That's how it made her feel. She wasn't sure when exactly it started, but the feelings she had began to make it clear that she saw Jim as more than just a best friend. Over the past- maybe six years, she found herself becoming more and more infatuated with every little thing about him, most of what others probably wouldn't really even bother to pay any attention to. In the beginning, she tried to pass it off as just some silly schoolyard crush, assuming that the feelings would go away with time... but they didn't. It didn't help that the way she felt only got even stronger over the years, even considering how strong it was in the first place.

Originally, she had planned to stay at home and work with Jim's mother, but Jim had somehow convinced her to go solar surfing with him that morning. Sophie couldn't find any words for it, but she just saw this little glimmer of otherworldly light in his eyes that she found impossible to say no to.

 _'Maybe I'm just weak like that.'_ she thought.

She shook her head, pushing the thoughts back for the moment so she could focus. She began to direct her solar surfer upwards, and Jim followed her. Once they had gained enough altitude, they exchanged a look, signifying that they both had the same crazy idea.

Jim stepped back and pressed a control that caused the sail to fold down. It only took a moment for gravity to take it's hold, and Jim held out his arms as he began to fall backwards. After making sure her spyglass was secure on her belt, Sophie did the same, and the two began to fall back towards the ground, twisting and turning on the way down. At the very last second, they straightened themselves out. Just before they could hit the ground, their sails were brought back up, giving off a flash of both golden and blue light in the sun. Both of them let out cries of elation as they skimmed the ground.

Looking ahead, Sophie caught sight of a restricted area. Two blinking red lights were on either side of a striped, yellow and black barrier.

Jim saw this too. Having grown up to be an absolute daredevil, he kept heading straight for the barrier.

"Jim!" Sophie warned, knowing the consequences if he wound up getting caught. But he disregarded the warning, and flew his solar vehicle straight towards the confined sight, breaking through the barricade and setting off the alarm. Sophie bit her lip nervously and reluctantly followed Jim through the construction site, swerving past the large structures as they went. Sophie flew above Jim as he ground his board on a metal pipe hanging from a crane, causing sparks to fly.

Ahead of them was a giant turning mill. Jim grinned and narrowed his eyes towards the wheel, and Sophie kept her eyes trained on Jim as he sped towards the giant turning mechanical piece, keeping her breathing steady.

Knowing that she couldn't stop him now even if she tried, she watched from beside him as he sped forward. A few seconds before he could collide with the wheel, he pressed the control to make his sail drop, and leaned his body forward, before he smoothly flew right in and out of an opening. Sophie swerved around the mill, her heart racing like mad with anxiousness. Once out, Jim brought his sail back up, letting out a cry of exaltation, and Sophie sighed in relief, resting a shaky hand over her heart, feeling it beat loudly.

"You are crazy." she said, shaking her head with a slight laugh, and Jim just smiled at her knowingly. Since they had their solar surfers built, they'd become absolute adrenaline junkies, and they both knew it.

Before Jim could say anything in response, the sound of police sirens rang out from behind them, prompting their smiles to drop. Jim hissed nervously, tightly shutting his eyes for a moment while Sophie's expression dropped in despair, before he rolled his eyes and Sophie let her head hang. "Great." Jim groaned sarcastically. 'Mom's not gonna like this' Sophie thought to herself in agony.

* * *

As mentioned, if Sophie hadn't gone off that morning, she would've stayed behind to help Jim's mother at work as a waitress. A few years ago, their home had become an inn so that Sarah could still provide for herself and her son.

"Mrs. Hawkins!" an octopus-like alien woman called her as she filled a dish with food with a ladle. "I know-- refill on the purp juice. Coming right up, Mrs. Dunwiddie!" she answered, taking a tray of food to a table of 3 frog like aliens, two adults and one child. "There we go, that's four powdered spheroids, two lunar eclipses, and it's a big bowl of Zorellian jelly worms for the big boy!" she listed off as she set the plates of food in front of the customers. "Awesome." the little boy said excitedly before he began to chow down. "Enjoy." she said kindly as she walked away to the other side of the room.

"Sorry Delbert," she began to apologize, placing a dish of Alponian chowder, and water down on the table, drawing said canine-humanoid's attention away from his book. "It's been a madhouse here all morning." "No problem Sarah." Delbert insisted kindly, closing his book and setting it aside. Sarah took the almost empty tray over to the table where Theodosia, Sophie's mother sat with a cup of tea while reading a novel.

"Morning, Adora. How'd you sleep last night?" Sarah said, setting down a small plate of food in front of her long time friend. "Thank you, Sarah. Better than the last few nights." the redheaded woman replied before taking a sip of her tea. It was surprising how much different she looked from her daughter. Bright teal eyes, light warm ivory skin, and wavy, auburn red hair tied back in a low bun. The few traits that Sophie did inherit from her mother were mostly, if not all recessive.

After taking a few empty dishes from the empty tables, Sarah heard Delbert exclaim in startle, and she turned around to see that the daughter from the family she just served food to had stolen a spoonful of his breakfast. She couldn't help but smile as the little girl happily skipped off.

"Oh, they're so adorable at that age." "Oh yes, deplorable- eh, adorable!" Delbert stammered, clearing his throat as he set his spoon down. "Speaking of which, how are Sophia and Jim doing?" he asked fondly, having known the kids as they were growing up.

"Much better." Sarah replied, sounding almost relieved as she carried a stack of dirty dishes to the counter. "I know Jim had some rough spots earlier this year, and Sophie's been having a really tough time lately, but I really think that they're both starting to turn a corner." Sarah finished, picking up some more empty dishes.

Suddenly, the door swung open to reveal the robo-cops standing in the doorway, holding both teenagers by the shoulders. Jim held a dispirited look on his face, while Sophie kept her head down, clutching her fist tightly with a look of sad indignity. "Mrs. Hawkins." the officer holding Jim spoke.

"Jim! Sophie!" Sarah exclaimed as she accidentally dropped the stack of dishes onto the floor in shock. Delbert looked away, nervously muttering, "Ooh, wrong turn..."

"Okay, thanks for the lift, guys." Jim said casually as if he hadn't just been arrested in an attempt to get away, gently pushing the officer's hand off his shoulder. "Not so fast." the cop said firmly, grabbing Jim by the shoulder again before he could walk off, and his face dropped again. Sophie tensed up a little, her eyes darting around the room whilst she absentmindedly bit down on her tongue. The idea of spontaneously evaporating into thin air sounded pretty appealing to her at the moment.

"We apprehended these two operating solar vehicles in a restricted area." the officer holding Sophie's arm said. "Moving violation 9-0-4, section 15," the other cop listed off. "paragraph-- um..." he hesitated.

"Six." Jim and Sophie muttered simultaneously.

"Thank you." the cop said. "Don't mention it." Jim replied.

"Jim." Sarah chided in a hushed whisper, and Jim looked down in chagrin. "As you are aware, ma'am, this constitutes a violation of their probation." Jim's cop said, raising Theodosia's attention. "Probation?" "Yes, yes," Sarah said as she stepped forward. "No, I understand. But, um- c-could- could we just-" she stuttered slightly, nervously rubbing the back of her neck.

"Pardon me, officers." Delbert spoke up, getting up from his seat and walking over. "If I might uh, interject here, I am the noted astrophysicist, Dr. Delbert Doppler. Perhaps you've heard of me." Neither of them answered, leaving an awkward silence lingering in the air for a second. "No? Uh, I have a clipping." Delbert said, reaching into his vest pocket. "Are you the boy and girl's father?" the cop holding Sophie asked, pointing at the doctor.

Sarah and Delbert immediately shot that down, and Sophie finally lifted her head in shock, glancing over at Jim and sharing a look of slight discomfort and disgust. The police basically just claimed that they were brother and sister.

All feelings considered, the idea was pretty gross.

"He's just an old friend of the family." Sarah explained. "Back off, sir!" they snapped, leaning in threateningly, making Delbert jump back in fright, and Sophie flinch.

"Thank you, Delbert. I will take it from here." Sarah told him gently. "Well, Sarah, if you insist." he said, straightening out his vest and clearing his throat. "Don't ever let me do that again." he whispered before walking back to his table.

"Due to repeated violations of statute 15-C, we have impounded their vehicles." Sophie's officer said, unknowingly adding on to the already burdensome weight of guilt on the obsidian haired girl's shoulders. "Any more slip-ups will result in a one way ticket to Juvenile Hall." "Kiddie hoosegow." "The slammo." they added.

"Alright, we get it." Sophie muttered, slightly irked as the cops finally let them go. "Thank you, officers." Sarah said, taking the kids aside. "It won't happen again." she finished sternly, glancing down at the two as they avoided eye contact.

"We see their type all the time, ma'am." Sophie's cop said condescendingly.

"Wrong choices." the other lawman added.

"Dead-enders."

_"Losers."_

At the last name, Jim glared sharply up at the cops, while Sophie gripped on tightly to her sleeve, lowering her head with a regretful and almost grieving look on her face, unable to fight how bad it stung.

"You take care now." the officer said, lifting his hat. "Let's motor." his partner said, before they turned around and left the inn, shutting the door behind them.

Noticing how strangely quiet it was, Sarah turned around and saw all the restaurant patrons staring at them in shock, before quickly returning to their meals. Sarah turned back to the kids who had their heads down. "Jim, Sophie, Theodosia and I have had it." Sarah said, distressed.

"Your mother and I expected better from you, Sophia." she scolded, prompting said girl to tighten her grip on her arm, her fingers digging deep into her arm through the fabric of her jacket , just to keep from tearing up.

"Do you two want to go to Juvenile Hall, is that it?" Sarah questioned. "I'm sorry." Sophie apologized softly, somehow managing to keep her voice from cracking, barely able to make eye contact with Sarah for even a second. "I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." Sarah said, crossing her arms and glancing over at Theodosia. Sophie looked up for a moment and saw her mom with a heartsore look in her eyes, before looking back down at the ground in shame. Jim didn't say anything, he only walked away and grabbed an empty dish tub before he began to clear dishes off one of the tables.

"Jim." Sarah called him, but he remained silent. "Jim, look at me." Sarah tried to reach her son again, but still got nothing in response as he continued his task. "It's been hard enough keeping this place afloat by myself now that you've been dragging Sophie along with you all the time without you two go-"

"Mom, it's no big deal." Jim finally said calmly, turning to face her. "There was nobody around, those cops just won't get off our-" but he stopped when he saw his mother's look of disapproval. His expression dropped again and he turned back to do his work, muttering, "Forget it."

"Mrs. Hawkins! My juice!" Mrs. Dunwiddie called from across the room, waving her empty glass.

"Yes, I'll be right there, Mrs. Dunwiddie!" Sarah assured quickly, before turning back to Jim, who was walking away to the kitchen. "Jim, I just don't want to see you throw away your entire future."

She then left it at that, before leaving to get the alien lady her refill.

As Jim walked away to the kitchen, pushing the door open with his back, he muttered solemnly, "Yeah, what future?" before he left the room.

That last part struck something from deep within Sophie. Part of her felt kind of crushed as those words echoed in her mind. She hugged herself tightly, staring at the floor before taking a deep breath, then slowly letting it out, before she lifted her head and turned around, only to see that her mother wasn't at her table anymore. She assumed that she must have gone up to her room, glancing up at the staircase, before heading upstairs.

Sophie held her arms as she slowly walked down the hall, stopping when she came to her mother's bedroom door. She stared at the doorway, taking deep breaths as her hands shook at her sides. After a single blink of her eyes, the tears wound up falling.

Slowly, she raised an unsteady hand up to her face, wiping the tears away like she did whenever she had to fake being tired and swallowing the lump in her throat. After taking one final, labored breath in, she let one hand fall back down to her side, and raised one hand to the door. She hesitated to knock however, parallelized by the anxious numbness in her stomach. Squeezing her fist tightly, she finally gave the door a few soft knocks. It was only a moment before her mother's voice came from the other side, "Come in."

Making one final check to be sure her eyes were free of any tears, she entered the room to see her mom sitting on the bay window seat with a book in her lap. But it wasn't her novel from earlier. Closing the door behind her, Sophie spoke up shyly, "Hi mom."

Theodosia looked up to see her daughter, smiling fondly. "Hi, leannán." she said calmly, much to Sophie's relief. She walked across the room and sat next to her mom, finally recognizing the book in her mother's lap. It was a photo album they'd had since... well, for her entire life, really. The page she was on mostly held photos of Sophie when she was around four and five. But the one that really struck the chords in Sophie's heart were the photographs that had her dad in them. The same face that haunted her memories to this day. She could still almost faintly hear his voice when she remembered him.

"You know, sometimes... you look so much like him." Theodosia said fondly. Sophie looked up at her mom and saw her smiling sadly, her eyes glimmering with reminiscence, and a couple tears. True to her word, Sophie did look awfully similar to him, it was almost painful. She had his black hair, his tanned skin, and almost the exact same eye color. Only his were an almost icy glacier blue, while hers were a deep royal indigo purple. And according to her mom, she even tended to act like him a lot.

Sophie sighed, "Mom, I-... I'm so sorry I didn't tell you about my probation. I was just-- I was so nervous to tell you, and I didn't want to stress you out even more. I know that you worry so much, and I didn't--" Her rambling came to a stop when she felt her mother's hand on hers. "Sophie, it's okay. A little tiring sometimes, but it's alright." Theodosia said calmly, lifting a bit of the guilt off her shoulders.

"Do you need some medication now?" she asked, and Theodosia nodded, rubbing her temple while she got up and headed to the bathroom. Once she found the right pill bottle, Sophie frowned nervously when she realized that they were close to getting low on it. If her father were still around, refilling her mother's prescription for her anemia would be easy since he was the one who kept the family financially secure. Putting the thought aside so her mom wouldn't have to worry about it, she grabbed the right amount, and hurried back to her mother.

"Thank you, sweetheart." Theodosia said, relieved before she took the treatment with ease, having done this plenty of times before. Sophie took a seat next to her, resting her head on her shoulder, to which Theodosia reacted by wrapping her arm around her shoulders and holding her close.

"Can you promise me something?" Theodosia asked, and Sophie hummed softly in response as she gently rubbed her arm, trying her best not to let her tears show. "Please be careful. I know I can't keep you from getting into trouble, but I just want you to be safe and smart about it, okay?" she gave her shoulder a light squeeze. "If I lose you, then I'm going to be fresh out of family." Sophie's tears began to come back, and she placed her hand on her mother's, leaning in closer and whispering, "I promise." A moment of silence passed, before Theodosia shifted in her place.

"I'm going to try and catch up on my sleep, okay?" she said, yawning as she began to stand up. Sophie nodded and stood with her, giving her one last hug before she headed for the door while her mother got into bed. "I love you, mum." she whispered before she left the room. "I love you too." her mother replied drowsily, before Sophie gently closed the door behind her.

She stood in front of the doorway for a moment, letting her smile drop before she began to feel her lip start to quiver a bit as the pain returned. Not wanting anyone to see, she headed to the one place no one else would go... almost no one.


End file.
